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Atlanta Ga. Local Scene
Hello Atlanta! It's been a while since Atlanta had a viable on-line option to turn to for what's hot not only in it's vivid hip-hop culture, but within the burgoning rock scene, the diverse pop music crowd, as well as the soul diva's and smokin' cats of the blues and jazz genre that the city has to offer, good things are to come. And that's not all. I've yet to discover every nook and cranny of this city's great wealth of talent and hope we can do this together. Feel free to email me with your comments and suggestions for this site, band news, or if you'd like to have your CD/concert reviewed here. I very much look forward to hearing from you. Georgia's finest musical acts were very well represented at this year's festival. Unlike the previous month's Dogwood Festival , where he played a solo gig on an intimate acoustic stage, Kevin Kinney took to the 96 Rock stage backed magnificently by his full band, Drivin' N' Cryin' .(DNC) The classic rock anthems "Down By Law," "Build a Fire," and "Fly Me Courageous" all inspired a sea of fist pumping, hands in the air, sing-alongs. But it was one of the lesser-known Kinney originals, which set the tone for the rest of the weekend's acts to follow. As a glowing orange sun descended between the Bank of America Tower and the BellSouth building, Kinney's "Indian Song" proved why he is one of our most talented, but under appreciated songwriters.
Dressed simply in a pair of khakis, a green tee, and the exact same shade of green sun glasses, John Mayer took the Fox stage by storm. His set brought the largest crowd to the smaller, more intimate stage, located in a secluded locale just off Piedmont. "I'm not stepping off this stage until I can't sing no more," he said enthused by the warm reception and large crowd, which consisted mainly of college girls and frat boys. His deeply heartfelt and personal lyrics inspired quite a few sing-a-longs, while his genuine good looks inspired quite a few screams as well. He was clearly comfortable on stage, and glad to be back in Georgia after having been touring the nation. "Let's all go to my house," he joked. He stuck mainly to songs from his independently released studio work, "Inside Wants Out", ("My Stupid Mouth," "Neon," "Love Song For no One") which was interesting considering he's set to release a new recording on a major label later this month. Sunday gave witness to the most local bands playing the festival through the whole weekend, beginning with four winners in the Next Level Competition. Four Atlanta bands won the right to perform at Midtown on the four main stages hosted by the radio stations. Gurufish, a funky, retro styled ten piece brought the vibes to the V103 stage, while Slangbanger kicked it out loud and proud on the 96 Rock stage. 6 Against 7 counted down on the 99X stage, while over on the Z93 stage Ghost Train rode out a jam heavy set. Unable to split myself in four to cover all acts, I decided to stick it out in the area that housed three of the four stages. Ghost Train drew the largest crowd, many fans knew their originals even though the band has only been together since August. It's not far fetched to compare their blues drenched, guitar and percussion laden classic rock sound to that of the early days of the Allman Brothers Band. Watch for a feature on them in the coming months .
Soup, on the other hand, boiled over with enthusiasm as soon as the Indigo Girls' set was over. From the Locals Only stage, the band's high energy and pop rock oriented sound beckoned the crowd over to hear them. From the opening notes of the brand new "Where Are You Now" the beach balls were bouncing over head. "My Life Is Complete", another new song, followed and included audience participation in the form of handclaps raised over head. "Marvin Wright" told the tale of a troubled youngster who went to a music festival in the middle of Atlanta, caught a band on stage called the Marvelous 3, heard another band called Train and met a beautiful girl named Virginia. Soup has been holed up in their studio writing and recording new music, and has gotten out occasionally to share the new tunes with an audience. Of the six songs played that night, four were new. If nothing else, Soup certainly took the cake for the best marketing move, passing out over 10,000 stickers with their name and webpage address on it. It's no wonder why this band has earned the reputation as Atlanta's best party band. Overall, the three-day festival was an incredible success from the get go. Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan , among others all put on stellar sets. The event was a huge success for everyone involved.
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